B-cc Sweetens The Pot For Perfect Graduates

February 14, 1986|By Patsy V. Pressley of The Sentinel Staff

DAYTONA BEACH — Forget the compliments, congratulations and pats on the back. A 4.0 overall grade point average now earns a Bethune-Cookman College graduate $500 in cash. Student Affairs Vice President Clarence Childs recently made the offer to any graduate beginning with the class of 1986 and extending to the class of 1989. To qualify a student must have a 4.0 grade point average -- all A's.

Childs said he got the idea when a campus speaker used the theme ''you must give in order to get.''

Childs said he also was concerned that athletes and musicians get trophies and awards at the end of the school year, but academic standouts don't always fare as well.

When Childs first broached the idea to B-CC's academic dean, the reaction was, ''Are you serious?'' But when Childs assured the dean he was and that he would guarantee the money, the dean agreed.

Since then Childs has been giving the same assurances to students.

He has heard from other B-CC officials about sweetening the pot, and there is a chance students may be offered more than $500, he said.

Childs would not release figures on the amount of money set aside, but he said he is confident he has enough.

School registrar James C. Wymes said he doesn't have exact figures on the number of B-CC students who have graduated with a 4.0 average. But in his 22 years with the school, Wymes said he can only think of a few.

For Childs, that's all the more reason to make the cash offer.

About 1,700 students attend the private college in Daytona Beach.

Childs said no faculty member has talked to him since the offer was announced, but if history is any guide, he does not expect them to ease their grading scale.

Student Government Vice President Kenneth Johnson said he still isn't quite sure if he believes the offer and a number of students have asked him about it.

Johnson, a biology major, said his goal always has been to make good grades. But, he admits, the offer ''is a stimulant to make me work harder.''